Schiavone and Bassano were likewise great painters of this school ; the ducal palace contains sonic magnificent works of Bassano, particularly the humiliation of the Em peror Frederick to the Pcpc ; he was particularly expert in his representation of animals. The tide seemed to have turned at the death of Titian, as few of the multitude of Venetian masters, who !about ed to maintain the fame of their school after his reign, could at all support the high rank which he had gained for it. We shall only mention Paul Veronese, who revelled in all the luxuriance of the Venetian taste for gold and glitter. His compositions arc neither historically correct nor elegant in design, but possess a freshness and magnificence of colouring which is extremely attractive. Venice abounds with his works. but there is none more pleasing than his martyrdom of St. George at Verona, which was one of the spoils restored from France. Fie is more generally known on this side of the Alps by his picture of the feast at Cana. so placed as to be the first picture to arrest the admiring multitudes who daily visit the Louvre. Banquets are in general the best pictures of Paul Veronese, as he is not strong in ex pression, and the occupation of eating and drinking re quires little. We may add Sebastiano Ricci, Tiepolo, and several others of a later date.
LGnzbard School.
In comprehending under the denomination of the Lom bard school the various styles of art that have arisen under the auspices of the different great masters of the north of Italy, we are aware that they admit of little assimilation, save that of locality alone Parma, Bologna, Modena, Genoa, and other cities, obtained celebrity from the various kinds of excellence possessed by the distinguished painters who •practised their art in each, and established their different schools ; but the separate examination of each, where a different style gave claim to a distinctive name, would lead us far beyond the limits of the very brief sketch we propose to give of the progress of the art. Those who desire more minute detail will find elaborate and ample information in the very valuable work of the Abbate Lanzi's Storici Pit tcrica Puha. The fame of these cisalpine schools arose at a much later period than those we have already considered, and, in fact, were derived from a com bination of the qualities of the schools that preceded them ; and, considering the acquirements of the leading masters in whom they severally originated, they might be expect ed to exhibit all the excellencies without any of the im purities of the sources from whence they drew. Grandeur of conception was to be sought in the bold and scientific outline of Michael Angelo ; from Raphael, chaste in vention, elegant composition. variety of character, sweet ness and modest propriety of attire, with the dif fusion of mind over every feature of his figures; and, lastly, in Titian, the magic of colouring and delightful play of light. There is but the union of these to complete the wished for perfection, of which, however, the scope of human talent is perhaps scarcely capable.
In Corregio, whose name is characteristic of the school of Parma, there is no doubt a very near approach to this ideal union of excellence. No painter ever exhibited a
more graceful delicacy and lovely conception of character, a greater mellowness of colour, and that rich liquid outline, which is quite beautiful. His works were, however, some what defective in originality, vigour of thought, and in that air of dignity which results from a study of the antique We shall not attempt to reduce the varied ex cellencies of the great painters of Lombardy to any gene ral character, which %1 ould amount to a higher degree of perfection in a greater number of the attributes of painting than any individual school or master ever attained ; a short notice of their separate attainments will sufficiently show how much the progress of the arts was indebted to their efforts.
Andrea :`,Iantegua was the earliest painter of note in this quarter of the world. He was a native of Padua, and established his school at Mantua, in the end of the fifteenth century, where he has left some works of great merit, fresh and brilliant in the colours. The character given by Lanzi of one of his pictures is, that " every head might serve as a pattern for vivacity and character, and some of them even for the imitation of antique. There is a freedom and fulness in the design, both of the naked and drapery, which contradicts the common opinion, that a dry manner, and that of Nlantegua, is one and the same. The triumph of Caesar, consisting (If various pieces, was con sidered his principal work ; these pictures are said to have found their way to England.
Corregio, whose name was Antonio Allegri, was edu cated in the school of Mantegua, or rather copied his works, as Mantegua died in 1506, before he could have profited by his instruction. He had the good fortune to come into notice, at a time when it was resolved to orna ment the great dome of Parma, the cupola of which he was invited to paint. To this fortunate selection the world is perhaps indebted for the great lustre that burst forth on the Lombardy republic of painting ; for it has gene rally happened, that the great epochs in the improvement of the art, have been preceded by the opportunity of some such vast undertaking. Apelles rose under the munifi cence of Pericles ; to the decorations of the Vatican, both Raphael and Michael Angelo owed the development of their genius : and to those of the great church of Parma we may attribute the excellence of Corregio. This great man is said to have struggled in his youth under the weight of indigence and obscurity, without the assistance of edu cation, or an opportunity of improvemen, by inspecting the works of other masters, or the remains of antiquity. He worked his way into notice by the unaided efforts of natural genius alone. And yet no painter that has ever appeared treads so close on the dominion of Raphael, who enjoyed all these advantages in perfection, under the pro tection of his powerful relative, Bramanti, and in the sun shine of royal favour. Corregio, on the contrary, is con sidered to have passed his short life in want and diffi culties, from the burden of a large family, whom the re ward of his labours scarcely sufficed to support ; and to have ultimately died of chagrin at the paltry price he re oeived for his great work at Parma.